Colour-Changing e-skin to have Robotics Uses: Chinese Scientists

Chinese researchers have developed a user-interactive electronic skin that can change colour -- an ability associated with animals such as chameleons, octopuses and squid and it can uses in robotics. Wikimedia

Chinese researchers have developed a user-interactive electronic skin that can change colour

The changes are perceptible to the human eye without much strain

The researchers employed flexible electronics made from graphene, in the form of a highly-sensitive resistive strain sensor, combined with a stretchable organic electrochromic device

Beijing, July 26, 2017: Chinese researchers have developed a user-interactive electronic skin that can change colour — an ability associated with animals such as chameleons, octopuses and squid. The changes are perceptible to the human eye without much strain.

Though science has been able to replicate these abilities with artificial skin, the colour changes are often only visible to the naked eye when the material is put under huge mechanical strain.

The research conducted by Tsinghua University in Beijing can have applications in robotics, prosthetics and wearable technology.

“This user-interactive e-skin should be promising for applications in wearable devices, robots and prosthetics in the future,” the study mentioned.

The researchers employed flexible electronics made from graphene, in the form of a highly-sensitive resistive strain sensor, combined with a stretchable organic electrochromic device.

“To obtain good performance with a simple process and reduced cost, we designed a modulus-gradient structure to use graphene as both the highly sensitive strain-sensing element and the insensitive stretchable electrode of the ECD layer,” said Tingting Yang from Tsinghua University, in a paper published in the journal 2D Materials.

The researchers found that subtle strain — between zero and 10 per cent — was enough to cause an obvious colour change, and the RGB value of the colour quantified the magnitude of the applied strain.

The study noted that the capability for interactive colour changes with such a small strain range has been rarely reported before. (IANS)

Apple has been granted a patent for “dual display” that can potentially allow a future MacBook or iPad to use the second screen in place of a keyboard, media reports said.

“The US Patent and Trademark Office has granted the tech giant a patent titled ‘dual display equipment with enhanced visibility and suppressed reflections’,” Apple Insider reported late on Tuesday.

Apple gets patent for the dual display device. VOA

The documentation for the patent outlines a device that would use the second display as a dynamic keyboard.

The patent also describes the use of polarizers to help minimise reflections from the two screens onto each other which is a clever addition to solve that problem should the Cupertino-headquartered actually look to build this as a real device, according to The Verge.